1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a lace adjuster, more particularly to a lace adjuster for adjusting a length of a lace easily. The invention also relates to an adjustable lace assembly including the lace adjuster.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional lace for a shoe has two opposite tagged ends and a fixed length. Therefore, the length of the conventional lace cannot be adjusted according to the number of the eyelets and the size of the shoe.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, a conventional adjustable lace assembly includes a tubular member 1 and a lace 2. The tubular member 1 is formed in a substantially cylindrical shape, and includes a surrounding wall 102 defining a passage 101. The surrounding wall 102 has a first end 103, a second end 104 opposite to the first end 103, an inner surface 105 extending between the first and second ends 103, 104 and proximate to the passage 101, and a plurality of stop anchors 106 extending inclinedly relative to the surrounding wall 102 and extending from the inner surface 105 toward the passage 101. The lace 2 has a tagged end portion 202 and a stringing end portion 201 opposite to the tagged end portion 202.
The lace 2 will move relative to the tubular member 1 along a direction (X) from the first end 103 toward the second end 104 when the stringing end portion 201 of the lace 2 is pulled along the direction (X). The stringing end portion 201 of the lace 2 can be stopped by the stop anchors 106 after the stringing end portion 201 of the lace 2 stringing through the passage 101 of the tubular member 1. In this manner, the length of the lace 2 from the tagged end portion 202 to the tubular member 1 can be adjusted by changing the length of the stringing end portion 201 that extends out of the second end 104 of the tubular member 1.
Although the length of the lace 2 from the tagged end portion 202 to the tubular member 1 is adjustable, in order to provide the stop anchors 106 with sufficient stop effect and structural strength, the tubular member 1 should be made of metal via a plurality of processing steps, such as punching, rolling, etc. Therefore, the production cost for the tubular member 1 is relatively high.